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Meet the MasterMinds: Lon Safko Makes the Business Case for Using Social Media

Lon Safko is the coauthor of The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. He and his colleagues wanted to offer a definitive voice on social media, so they spent the better part of a year researching the topic and interviewing experts on all aspects of social media.

We asked Safko why and how consultants should use social media tools to build their practices and serve clients.

McLaughlin: What’s your definition of social media and why should consultants care about the subject?

Safko: Well, the forms of social media are an extension of conventional media. Social means that it’s two-way communication; the media part is the new tools that we’re using for that communication.

Conventional media involves only one-way transmission of ideas or information. Social media has changed that significantly because now you can have active dialogues with your customers and clients, without the need to call or make an appointment to see them.

Any company or business person who doesn’t take social media seriously will be left behind.

Professional people should care about this because the social media channels are now an entrenched part of our culture. Any company or business person who doesn’t take social media seriously will be left behind. The competition will clean your clock because these are the most effective forms of media that we’ve ever seen.

McLaughlin: Has the rise of social media been a natural evolution from the use of the Internet?

Safko:Yes. First, we just viewed web pages—businesses’ electronic brochures. Later, there was interaction, including email and communication back and forth. And then we got ecommerce. Now, billions are spent each year in online transactions.

So yes, the forms of social media were the next logical step because they provide the other half of the communication that people want.

McLaughlin: Blogs are one type of social media. Do you think a blog is a good way for consultants to stay in touch with clients and prospective clients?

Safko: Yes. I think it’s important for any type of consultant or business person to have a blog because clients are not going to believe you or hire you if they don’t first trust you. For clients to decide that, you must have an online presence so they can see what you’re about.

A blog is a good tool for that kind of interaction with clients. But implementing a blog and what you should actually use a blog for requires thought and a strategy. Your blog must have valuable What’s-In-It-For-Me (WIIFM) content. You have to provide useful takeaways for your readers.

Even though your readers are not paying for that information, they are spending something, and that’s time. What you give them has to be at least equal to the amount of time that they spend reading your blogs.

McLaughlin: As you establish an online presence by virtue of publishing blogs, will that improve your firm’s position in the search engine rankings and help build a following for your blog?

Safko: Yes, because blogs get priority search engine indexing. For a regular web page, it takes Google 12-14 days to recognize that the page is out there and index it.

When you publish a blog, it may look the same as a web page, but Google indexes it in the first 30 minutes. You get priority treatment, which means that instead of showing up on page 40, you may end up on the first page.

McLaughlin: What’s the most common mistake people make when they implement social media tools for marketing?

Safko: People tend to forget that blogs and other social media are, as I said earlier, an extension of conventional media. What does that mean? Well, if you have a blog and accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on, make sure you work those channels in with your conventional marketing.

People tend to forget that blogs and other social media are, as I said earlier, an extension of conventional media.

Include those addresses in your email signature so people can find you and follow your blog. Make sure to include all that information on your letterhead and on your business card. Don’t keep the electronic social media separate from the conventional media. Make sure it’s completely integrated because one is going to drive the other.

McLaughlin: For consultants, what’s the value of Twitter for marketing and reaching clients?

Safko: I love Twitter from a business perspective. Of course, for the most part, the social media programs were created for personal interaction. Then we figured out how to use them for business. I don’t really care if someone had bacon and eggs this morning, or how cute the cat looks playing with a ball of yarn. I want WIIFM related to business.

I suggest that you set up two Twitter accounts, or what we call personas, one for business and another for communicating with friends and family. And use two different names. Keep one account strictly for business, and follow only people that are tweeting on business subjects.

Then, if you want to let your brother know where you’re having lunch this afternoon, use the other persona to do that. Keep it separate.

McLaughlin: Assuming they stick to business, do you think consultants should use Twitter?

Safko: The toughest part is finding the time and the resources. That’s especially true for the independent consultant who doesn’t have a big team to draw on. But, still, the answer is absolutely yes.

I recommend what I call the trinity of social media. The first element is participation in the social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. The second component is blogs, which we already talked about.

And third, Twitter is essential; it’s the fastest way to build a following and the easiest way to communicate. And, assuming that your tweets provide value to those following you, Twitter really sets you up as an industry expert.

McLaughlin: With all the people following and being followed by thousands of others and all the tweeting and re-tweeting going on, how many of your tweets can get through to the people you are trying to reach?

Safko: Some people seem to think that success on Twitter is about the number of followers that you have. What really matters is the quality of the people you follow and who follow you.

I’m just over 2,000 and I can’t read all the tweets. I know that pearls are buried in there, so I use tools to sort and review them every day. I glance through and pick out the people I respect the most to see what they have to say.

McLaughlin: When you help somebody develop a strategy for using social media tools, where do you start?

Safko: The starting point, which many people don’t get, is that you do need a coherent strategy. Recently, I met with more than two dozen representatives from Fortune 500 companies on a one-to-one basis, and they all asked essentially the same question: We’re on Facebook and we’ve sent out a couple of tweets so we’re doing social media, aren’t we? No, you’re not.

It’s a lot like if you went to a marketing conference and then you came back to the office and you said wow, print ads—I’m going to put them in the newspapers and magazines and trade journals. Then we’re going to do a radio spot and a television spot and then, next Monday, we’ll be out of business and I’ll be looking for a new job—because there’s no strategy.

If you’re going to use social media tools, remember that you must integrate them with your existing marketing program.

If you’re going to use social media tools, remember that you must integrate them with your existing marketing program. Think about the strategy. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to build more brand awareness by having more people follow you on Twitter? Are you trying to drive more traffic to your website? Are you trying to get people to call an 800 number?

So the first step is to take a hard look at your conventional marketing and ask how you can use social media tools to extend the effectiveness of what you’re currently doing. Then set specific goals.

Once you nail down your goals, figure out how you are going to measure the effectiveness of your social media activities. That way, you can determine the ROI so a month from now you’ll know the best places to put your resources.

McLaughlin: If you could give just one piece of advice about how consultants should use social media outlets, what would it be?

Safko: The most important thing about social media is to be sincere, authentic, and transparent. Remember those three words.

McLaughlin: Thanks for your time.

Find out more at wwwLonSafko.com.